Online Business

Return of Investment on content marketing – another useless exercise?

5th March 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Content Marketing, a ‘buzz phrase’ that umpteen blogs and articles are all talking about. Just when you think you have a handle on it, ‘they’ (the experts, unseen and anonymous) tell us we should be measuring the return of investment of content.

Yawn.

But, is there some mileage in it?

Always conscious of exploring new avenues and thinking outside of The Box within which we all function, we thought we take a closer look at this whole return of investment thing. Is it worth the hassle? And when/if we complete the exercise, what does it actually tell us? Is this information of any use?

Who invented Content Marketing?

You can and will be forgiven for thinking that content marketing is a relatively new and modern thing; in relation to the web, it is but it is a concept that has been around for far longer than this.

Those of you who live or work in agriculture will be familiar with John Deere. Deere, a manufacturing of all kinds of farming implements and machinery, including tractors is a name synonymous with farming and quality products.

And, it is also a company knowing within brand publishing circles. If we are to attribute content marketing as an invention of one person or company then many people have plumped for John Deere.

For over a century, John Deere has been producing The Furrow, a magazine stuffed full of jolly interesting stuff for the farmer, from 1895 to today. And, the return of investment on The Furrow is immense, especially when measures over the 100 years plus that it has been circulating.

There are all kinds of metrics and data against which your content marketing can be measured but, we are sure we have spouted this before – content is about a marathon, not a sprint. If you are expecting an immediate, 30 day return on your investment you may be disappointed. However, when your content does bear fruit, the results can be nothing short of incredible. And very, very welcome to local, online businesses.

The lesson remains the same…

…For now, at least with content marketing experts, including those at The Furrow, still saying that the value of content lies in its value to the consumer. This value, matched with effective distribution is perfection but, it may not be the language that executives speak.

Budgets are tight and business executives want to know what they are getting for their money; is all this money they seem to be sending on creating content, matched by the portion of marketing budget spent on Hootsuite, Buffer and subscription-type services for distribution of this content actually returning – how much money does each blog, post, tweet or pin bring in?

Is it all about money?

First things first, if you get stuck in the eternal spiral of making money, then you will not see all of the value in content marketing. It is not there simply as an avenue of cash. Being online with your business is not just about selling, it is about engaging with people.

Thus, your content needs to do 4 things:

Be attractive – people are the lynch pin of any business; without people, there are no customers and your content marketing should be people-centric. However, on the flip side of the coin are the all-powerful, all-seeing and all-seeking search engines. If they don’t like your website and your content, then you are, to use a technical term within content marketing, ‘a bit stuffed’.
Present ‘your’ personality – not your own personal one but your company/business/brand. Content is a two-way conversation, rather than a one-sided advert. Think about what you expect when you approach a company for help or advice; what do you think your customer expectations are when they talk to you?
Build loyalty & trust – where would be without those returning customers? For some businesses too, working with customers is not a one-off transaction; it is a relationships that grows and builds over time and thus, if you in this kind of industry your content must reflect this.
Authority – not the sergeant-major type of ‘listen to me, and to me only’, but rather a reflection of your knowledge. Content marketing should reflect high value information to your customers or clients.

“We do all those! Job done…”

Not quite. Whilst you can certainly bask in the golden light and ripples of applause for having all these factors in your content marketing, they are not measurable in the format above.

You need a bit more hard data than that.

Time – the enemy of so many, but with content marketing and its return of investment you simply must bear in mind that it can take search engines and people anything from a week to months to discover a piece of content.

The metrics that could be useful

Thus, we suggest 4 metrics that can be used as measuring sticks as to whether your content marketing is hitting the mark, or any mark at all. And, for those shy about digits and numbers, they are not too onerous…

Consumption metrics

Google Analytics, for example, show consumption metrics that include exciting things such as total visits to your website/pages, unique visits, downloads, time spent on site, cost per visitor and bounce rate.

What you are looking for – how is your data or content being consumed by visitors and, even better, it how they find it. For example, they may have read your blog, navigated to the ‘about page’, had a look at the ‘products pages’ and then sent you an enquiry is your contact form.

So what?

Well, actually, these statistics can show where people are landing on your website and what happens next. If they find your blog interesting, but then go to another page then navigate away, the content marketing is only performing part of its job. Don’t forget you website is a live, living and breathing ‘thing’, maybe it needs a tweak or two?

Lead-generation metrics

Now we are talking carrots, but no sticks approach to hooking leads – leads, in this sense, being potential customers.

If you have a contact form and this is central to your business, you need and want people to complete it and return to you. If you metrics show you have plenty of website visitors but not many leads, something is adrift.

If this is your kind of online business, how much do you annually spend on content marketing (a)? How much does it cost to promote and distribute it (b)? Add these two figures together. On average, on each lead how much does the customer spend (c)? Follow the math and you have the number of leads you need to break even…

(a + b) ÷ average value of c = number of break even ‘leads’ needed

So what?

You may find this breakeven figure a startling one, and one which unless monitored could mean that our business is falling short…

Sharing metrics

Social media likes, shares, pins etc. are far more difficult to quantify in terms of pound sterling BUT, they are useful vehicles for generating traffic to your website. We have talked in the past about social signals and these share metrics are about engagement, rather than the money they make you.

So what?

Sometimes, too much weight is attributed to share metrics so take care not to throw everything at your social media but, they can be a useful indicator of how people are finding and engaging with you.

Sales metrics

This is possibly the simplest statistic – is your content marketing turning people in to paying customers? If you set out with this as your primary aim of the content, then this is your primary metric to measure.

If, however, you use your content to increase referrals and engagement, then this becomes secondary.

So what?

If sales is what you are wanting from your content marketing then this metric will tell you, over time, what type of content is bringing paying customers to you… or not, as the case may be.

The bottom line

You do need some idea of what it, and what is not working when it comes to content marketing; after all, you wouldn’t knowingly keep throwing money after bad, would you?

How hard is your content marketing working for your business? Are you creating the ‘right’ stuff that attracts people and search engines? Is it worth it or do you need to change course…?

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 2

13th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

In part 1 of what statistics about social media usage can mean to us, as a business, we focused mainly on data and figures that related to Twitter. Knowing the group you and your followers could fall in, as well as when the best times to tweet are, can make your presence on this real time platform work a little harder for you.

In part 2, we carry on looking at social media platforms, identifying statistics for Facebook and a little nod to Pinterest.

And so, what do statistics on Facebook usage teach us?

The favourite, most crowded day of the week when it comes to posts is…. (drum roll please!)

FRIDAY!

Don’t we all love Friday?! The day where we can look back at the week, revel in our accomplishments and maybe plan the weekend… and this more relaxed approach on a Friday may actually mean that we feel more compelled to post a variety of statuses.

With over 225 billion posts analysed as part of this piece of research, we were quite impressed initially but then we looked at the statistics again and came to the same conclusion, but with an additional observation.

The research we came across was presented in a lovely bar graph and Friday was the busiest day for statuses, posts and the like BUT, but a gnat’s whisker. What we learnt from this research was that every day on Facebook was, to be honest, fairly crowded and so dropping a status onto the platform every now and then was probably going to be lost without a trace.

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew Facebook was busy, with statuses and posts having a seconds of air time before it is swamped by something else. Every day is busy and so if Facebook is one of your preferred social media then you need to be constant and consistent with your use of it. Friday, however, seemed the day where shares and likes peaked; some social media experts suggest keeping your better stuff until the end of the week. We think a little frivolity on a Friday never hurt anyone…

Photos work every time on Facebook…

…or so the statistics say. We already know that sharing appropriate visual content, linked with your brand or business is a great way of snagging some much needed eye ball time however, what did take us by surprise was the magnitude of photo-led content.

If you really truly want your posts and statuses shared and liked on this social media platform, then you need to include a photo… take a look at the stats:

In 2014, the most shared posts on Facebook across the globe looked like this…

87% shared had a photo attached to it
4% had a link
4% had an album
3% a video
2% was the just the status itself

Our take on this statistic?

We always knew that photos and graphics were powerful but were not aware of how powerful until we saw this chunk of data. What it doesn’t tell us, however, is how many of these shares are from personal or company accounts, and this may differ.

However, the fact that photos work cannot be avoided but always exercise caution, making sure the photo or image you are using is not only connected or related to your brand, but also appropriate for wider sharing. Coveting favour through controversy is probably best left to those with celebrity status and a team of lawyers on hand.

The social media platforms that drive the most ‘traffic’

We have all been coached over the years to think of social media sites as means of engaging customers and fans, thereby increasing the possibility of these people accessing and using a website.

With so many social media platforms out there, coupled with our desire to be the best, popular and successful, we can sometimes spread our brand a little too thin across everything, everywhere. However, from a bunch of statistics released by Shareaholic, it seems that social media driven traffic splits in to two categories: quantity and quality.

If quantity is what you are after, you need to get your brand on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Simple.

If however, you want a decent conversation or are looking to seriously engage new buyers or customers, then look at the lower performing sites. In terms of time on a website, pages per visit examined by a customer and bounce rate, YouTube, Google+ and LinkedIn won hands down every time.

Our take on this statistic?

Just like we have hinted at before, you need to be involved in the ‘right’ social media for you and your brand. Facebook and Twitter are the big hitters in terms of numbers, and think about joining Pinterest too. If, however, you are interested in more ‘quality’ targeted traffic then the other social media sites may suit you better.

Overall, a broad social media strategy is required… IF you have the time and means to pull it off (and there is lies the problem for so many small, online and local businesses).

Figure out what is good engagement

Time for some real number crunching!

Social media of all kind is about engagement; it is about people feeding back to you, you feeding back to them, having a conversation, posting reviews… you get the idea.

Many moons ago, when Facebook was at its highest peak, the standard for social engagement statistics (and what constituted success), was marked; but, as other social media sites have come along and our tastes have changed, experts on social media marketing and reach have spent some time scratching their heads, pondering what makes for successful engagement NOW.

If you chase statistics as part of your social media engagement and you really need to know the answer, then it depends on how many fans you have. Looking at Facebook, as an example…

If you have between 1 and 9,999 fans on Facebook, each post should have 28 interactions
10,000 to 99,999 fans, you should expect 118 interactions per post
And, with over 100,000 to half a million fans, there should be a minimum of 385 interactions per post

In other words, the bigger you are on social media and the more you grow, the busier your accounts should be.

Our take on this statistic?

Pretty useless really, but those who are very serious about the whole social media thing, growing their reach and engagement statistics etc., these statistics could be a useful bench mark. We suggest that engaging your buyers in meaningful, helpful and informative posts is more important reaching benchmarks that do very little…

Get pinning!

If you enjoy the visual aspect of engagement, then Pinterest is one social media platform that is becoming increasingly popular; if you haven’t used it or come across it yet, take a look at how to use it and what it could offer your business.

Like other platforms, there are certain days that seem to hold the key when it comes to ‘categories of engagement’; on Monday, Fitness seems to be popular (after the sludge of the weekend…?). Tuesday represents the day technology pins are popular, Wednesday pins are attached to inspirational quotes, Thursday is fashion day and Friday is humorous stuff (there’s what weekend link again!). The weekend pins are travel and food and crafts, all hobby and social based.

Our take on this statistic… and all the others?

This proves what we have been thinking for some time and that is that social media is a beast worth taming, but in a way that works for you and your business, and not because you think you should be on that platform. The ‘everyone else is doing it’ seems to no longer work.

Our take would be this;

Take a look at some of these statistics and discard what you think is irrelevant or not appropriate for your business. If you are heading for cult status, then get posting with images on Facebook and Twitter but, if you are growing your engagement, preparing for a marathon rather than a spring, then take a look at the less ‘mass media’ approach.

But, in all cases, you need to be confident in your use of the platform so our ‘advice’ is simple – start small, with one or two social media platforms at most, become an expert on these and stick to them, if they work…

Social media, statistics and decisions – Part 1

11th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Understanding all three components is somewhat essential we feel but unless you have a finely tuned analytical mind, it can be difficult to decipher the good, the bad and the ugly. As the 19^th Century British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli said,

“There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics”

And so when we came across a shovel load of research, data and statistics about social media, we set our minds to decoding it all, so that you, our prized blog readers could delight and revel in knowing you are doing something right, an important wheel in the social media revolution and tweak those areas that may need some additional work.

We have come across 10 pieces of what we think are fascinating facts, data and statistics about how we and our customers use social media platforms; some are surprising and some results predictable and yet, we stick to what we think are tried, tested and successful methods.

In part 1, we look at 5 statistics and data from surveys, and in part 2 to be published soon, we take a look at another 5. If you use Twitter for your business, you really do need to read on!

What did we learn…?

Who favourites, mentions and re-Tweets your Tweets are NOT who you think

Twitter is all about gaining followers; with a sprinkling of re-Tweets and a few ‘favourites’, your Tweets could be seen by more eyeballs across the globe than in a high street optician’s chain. Cock-a-hoop when we get these weekly stats from statistic and data crunching apps like SumAll, we pay no more attention than this…

… but something more formidable lurks within these re-tweets. Many of us, in the same way that brand snobbery exists when we go shopping for new trainers, will hanker after the re-tweet or the ‘favourite’ from a ‘power user’; in other words, some Tweeters may hanker after the BIG names out there but recent stats show that 91% of mentions come from people with less followers.

Crestfallen, we limp away from Twitter, deflated and defeated… and yet, if you have 3 mentions from people with 500 followers each, that’s another 1,500 pairs of eyeballs… and if they re-tweet it, then are thousands of more eyeballs…

Our take on this statistic?

Cherish every re-Tweet and make sure you enjoy the company of the little guy on twitter for they are just as powerful and valuable as the big boys.

Twitter and communication networks

This is slightly more technical and psychological in application but, once you have the idea, it could be valuable information to have.

Twitter is about conversations and there is some rather interesting research from the Pew Research Centre and the Social Media Research Foundation (we didn’t know they existed either!) that suggests within these conversations there are ‘6 distinct communication networks’…

Divided – much like life, we disagree and in most cases, we rarely seek out the company of people who do not agree with us. This research suggests that Twitter is no different and that there are two, polarised groups on Twitter with different or opposing groups, and never the twain shall meet. Politics is listed as one of the most divisive topics of conversation…
Unified – the research suggests there are up to 6 large groups of people who with a topic as the means of unifying them. These tight crowds of people can be professionals, hobby groups etc.
Fragmented – these clusters tend to be formed around celebrities and brands, with discussions being polarised, a mass amount of information and opinions are generated and shared, but with groups rarely agreeing. Think of this as many small groups across Twitter discussing the latest popular subject or topics…
Clustered – these groups tend to cluster in small the medium sized groups, with the research finding that the majority of conversations being around the latest news stories. Hence global news events can generate content and discussion
In-hub and spoke – think of this as one person standing in the middle of a large group; this person speaks, the surrounding group, hanging on each and every word, then go on to re-tweet every bit of detail. In many cases, the members of this outward ‘spokes’ tend to converse and share with each other too. The fans of the brand look IN on the brand…
Out-hub and spoke – this is where the above groups is reversed, with the brand or business responding to the comments and questions of their customers on Twitter. This creates outward ‘spokes’, unlike number five which is where the information is fed inward. in other words, one brand has many spokes reaching OUT to consumers.

Our take on this statistic…?

Knowing where your brand fits in with these groups can help to understand why you sometimes have a huge amount of engagement with customers but, then it falls away. We find that many of our clients use Twitter as a way of offering customer support but, their customer support strategy makes no mention of this…

Written word verses Visuals

Every year, the Social Media Examiner conducts a survey of over 3,000 marketers and their most recent survey produced rather interesting result…

Although there has been a lot of talk about visuals – graphics, vines, video etc. – it sees that 58% of these 3,000+ marketers are saying that the written word trumps the visual aspect each and every time. Coming in second – way behind on 19% – are graphics such as infographics, followed by videos. Sharing other people’s content also figured in the survey with audio content being in last place.

Our take on this statistic…?

We have said many, many times before that original written content that oozes quality, authority, brand awareness and leadership on a range issues places you far more firmly at the centre of things on social media. Keep in mind the power of storytelling too…

Twitter and response times

Twitter is a great social media for many different kinds of businesses and brands BUT, there is something that you should be acutely aware of…

Twitter is essentially seen by consumers are a real-time platform; in other words, they comment and you respond… but not at your leisure. It turns out from a survey carried by a technology firm that customers have firm opinions about the time a company takes in responding to them.

But, if you think that responding in an hour is a close-shave for your business, you need to know that customers who contact you via Twitter with a complaints actually expect an almost instant response.

Our take on this statistic…

You MUST take your responsibility on social media seriously; if not, you could do more damage than good. If you are using Twitter as part of your customer service strategy, then you need to be hot-to-trot when it comes to responding.

However, if you are a small, micro or start up business, manning the barricades can 24 hours a day can turn into a monster task. It can be managed however, but always be conscious and aware that your customers have high expectations and your response needs to fit within this high standard.

Twitter and night owls

And finally, in this first part of social media, statistics and decisions, we look at data that suggests the best of time of posting and re-tweeting. If you have the time and inclination (as well as the right software!), you too can monitor a bunch of tweets – about 1.7 million, like TrackMavern did to create a wonderful looking bar graph that tells us one thing… the best times to re-tweet is between 9pm and midnight.

Do you know what Late-Night Infomercial Effect is? This is sharing content at a time when the share volume is lower, so your content stands out more. In terms of the best day, the same bit of number-crunching found that Sunday was also the best to tweet.

Our take on this statistic…

Why not try out this after-hours theory on Twitter by setting your tweet schedule for between 9pm and midnight? The same survey also suggested that more re-tweets came from Tweets that has exclamation marks and capital letters in them…

COME BACK AND READ PART 2 SOON! #makingtherigthsocialmediadecisions

Keeping your website alive

4th February 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

And we don’t mean the up time of servers!

We are continuing our theme that websites are live, living things that need to be fed and nurtured on a regular basis.

Websites objectives

Somewhere in the not-so-distant past, we have talked about website objectives. For all the fancy words and umpteen bullet points, extracted from your team over tea and biscuits, at some point we are sure, you will have mentioned getting traffic through to your site.

This means ‘traffic’ as people and, in many small, online business cases, websites objectives are about turning this traffic in to paying customers. Once you have attracted them the first time, you have the heady task of attracting them again… and again… and again…

On the face of it, this might not seem like too big a task but only if one of your website objectives it to ‘maintain the interest’ of the passing populace.

To maintain interest you must maintain the website, with up to date, vibrant content that, for many websites, means adding new content.

It is a story you will have heard before. Search engines constantly crawl websites looking for the juicy, new bits and so, making sure you have a plan to revamp or add new content – and sticking to it – is essential.

The worst case scenario – if you are worried about your website (it seems to be sinking without a trace), then take a walk through it.

Do the links work? (Nope).
Does it load quickly? (Nope)
Is the information current? (Nope)
Is it sleek, modern and fits your business? (Nope).

Need we go on?

Take away lesson – websites that are kept up to date, load quickly with fabulously engaging content will have a better chance of success and being ‘spotted’ by the search engines as being authoritative and trustworthy.

The basics of website upkeep

Just like we need to vacuum the office, wash the tea cups and take the tea towel home once a week, there are basic, menial website tasks that need to be done to maintain the website. You will need to assign this task to someone; we also suggest setting time at least once a month, to check out the whole website (we are not talking social media engagement here – that should be a daily occurrence).

Basic tasks:

Ensure information is up-to-date – does a product description, price or P&P rates need adjusting, for example?
Proofread the main pages and texts – is there an error that needs correcting? Could you re-write a paragraph so the message is clearer?
Graphics – these also need to be checked; are they still relevant? For example, all your Christmas graphics should be safely tucked away till next year
Accessibility – do customers know how to contact you? For many potential customers, knowing how they can contact the business (and when) is a sign of trustworthiness
Content and news – ensuring thee are kept up to date is also essential along with expansion tasks such as regular newsletters to people who have signed up to your mailing list
Announcements – do you have a feature that allows you to advertise promotions of flash sales? If so, have a plan for how to use these.

Take away lesson – although flashy bits are all well and good, if the basics of your website are either not functioning at all, or are not functioning to their full capacity, adding fancy extras will be a waste of time.

Create possibilities

Your website should be active in the sense that it can ‘read’ your business and market place, and create possibilities for people to engage and, if possible, buy from you. But once you have looked at your website and you think you are happy with it, then all is rosy in the garden… or is it?

Just as important as creating your website in the first place with professional help and services, so is keeping it alive and active.

Extend your thinking…

Step 1: The Website Review

YOU review your website in a regular basis, picking up odd bits of spelling and grammar mistakes. You have changed some graphics you no longer like or think are appropriate and you have some new content on there too.

Try shaking up this process:

If you have staff, then pass the Website Review task from one person to another; getting different perspectives can be incredibly useful but rather than going for the scattergun approach, get them to look at certain aspects
Feedback from customers is also a great way of gaining some knowledge and thoughts from those people who use your website; there are several ways you can entice people to do this, including a prize or two (makes a great news item for your website too!)
Test the findability of your website on the various search engines
Create a set of recommendations for a future plan for the website

Step 2: Prune, as well as add

New content is essential. In fact, a lot of your time should be about creating or finding new content for your website but, a rose bush will only grow to its true splendour if it is pruned back after a growth spurt. Getting rid of the weaker tendrils on your website will make the core stronger.

Adding more and more content can mean the ‘white space’, the place where the eye rests can be lost, making your pages appear cluttered and slightly chaotic. Look for duplication, as well as content that is no longer relevant.

Step 3: a re-shape, at some point

When you decorate your lounge, you wallow in the newness of it all but, in 2 years’ time, that same paint and finish can start to look tired and dated. You may also decide that now is the time to invest in new flooring, hence the space that was once shiny and new, is re-shaped… and you will need to do this at some point with your website.

But websites are expensive and so you need to get the very best out of your current one, before you go for a re-vamp

Step 4: Seek help

If your website is not working for your business, and it seems like an expensive waste of time, you may need the beady eye of a professional web designer, content writer or marketing ‘expert’ to help you out…

** With the new Growth Voucher scheme in England, you could get up to £2,000 towards the cost of digital help **

Content audit – reviewing and creating MORE success via your website content, blogs & posts

23rd January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

New Year Resolutions – are they a failure or success?

Why stopping, reviewing and remodelling can be the most productive of exercises

According to Forbes, only 8% of people who seriously make a New Year’s resolution will stick to it. There are various reasons why we fail and succeed with the goals we set; after all, we know we should be eating a healthy salad after the deluge of cheese, bread and wine over the festive period but, somehow even the crispest of salads does not have the same satisfaction rating as a chunk of bread and mature cheese.

Perhaps cutting it out completely is not the answer; rationing and setting this as a goal, may return better results.

And of course, the biggest factor in reaching any goal successful – and surpassing it – is the ability to stop and review, making any changes necessary.

Content is one of those areas within a business that can be left to flounder; even though you are posting content daily, and bashing it ‘out there’ on the several social media platforms, when was the last time you STOPPED and reviewed what you were doing…? And what the results actually are?

A Content Audit: your objective

The content in your website is of such importance that it deserves some additional attention. As we enter the first few weeks of 2015, the goal posts for content and search engine optimisation of your website have barely changed…

Your content should be written and crafted in such a way that people want to promote it by sharing it or linking with it. The increases the trust and authority associated with your site and hence, search engines are more likely to scan your pages for keywords the next time someone searches for them via their search engine.

Does your content do that?

But, before you start ripping your site to shreds and writing a whole heap of new content, take a look what is on there. Audit it. Review it. Modify it. Recycle it.

WHERE to start with a content audit

You should have some fairly minimal stats on where visitors to your site start e.g. you assume it is your home page but actually, they may land on another first. And, when you audit your content it may be because the information on that page is better, more keyword responsive than the home page.

There isn’t necessarily anything wrong with this and there is no hard and fast rule as to where or why customers should land on the home page first; many businesses find the ‘about us’ page is the most frequently landed/visited page.

The Whole Thing

Ok. You have some bare statistics and now you need to look as The Whole Thing.

What does you website feel and look like (remember this is content audit, not a design review)? What is the tone ‘saying’? Does it fit? Do you still want this tone or has the time come to tweak this a little?

Is it too wordy? Is it formatted correctly?

Keywords do matter and so you also need to audit these too; are they still relevant to your website and business? Do you need to more/take away/ research them again?

The Nitty-Gritty Mechanics

You’ve done the easy bit, now you need to create a ‘to do list’ and this need to contain the detail of the who, what, how, when and where. In other words, you are creating work but it can pay dividends in the end.

Trust us. It does.

Step 1: Set the objectives of your Content Audit

Apart from us telling you this is quite a good idea, what is it you want to achieve from this content audit exercise?

Remember, objectives need to be SMART

Specific
Measureable
Achievable
Relevant/Realistic
Time bound

So, how about this as an objective…?

To update all blog posts posted on site in January to June 2014 (24 posts) by the end of April 2015 so that website traffic is increased by 20%, by December 2015

A delightfully SMART objective:

Specific – we know it is all blog posts and that there are 24 of them
Measureable – you have 24 blog posts on your website and you have a target of increasing traffic by 20%
Achievable – yes. With 24 blog posts that is not too many to review and the timescale seem within reason too ( you could set a target of updating so many posts per week, once you have reviewed what needs doing to what post)
Relevant/ realistic – yes (but only you know your workload)
Time bound – yes. You are set to achieve the update of keyword by the end of April, and can review your success in December or January of the following year. You could also have mini-reviews once the project to update/recycle posts etc. is complete

Step 2: Create a spreadsheet

Hop on over to Excel or Google spreadsheets (great if you are working in a team, because you can update this spreadsheet and share it via the cloud so everyone can see who has done what and when)

We suggest the following columns, but you can obviously add or delete as necessary:

Date, the page URL (address), Action required, Who? By when?

Step 3: Seeking answers to questions and deciding what must be done to achieve your SMART objectives…

So, as you go through your website, page by page (a great excuse for tea on tap and a biscuit or two), ask the following questions, noting answers and action in your spreadsheet:

Does the page content fit with your strategy? Is it floating in mid-air or is it linked with the important topics and categories if your site?
Are some the pages and content stuffed with keywords? (We all did this ‘back in the day’ so don’t feel guilt admitting this; it just needs simplifying!)
Are the images on the page correct/useful/appropriate?
What about the headline?
Does the first paragraph grab the reader’s attention?
Are there errors on the page?
Are the links working?
Can links be added that are more relevant and current?
Do you have links to other pages on your website?
Formatting – are words and phrases highlighted? Is it in neat, small paragraphs?
Do you still want/need the post? Can it be recycled/re-written/re-used?

Your To-Do list may end up looking HUGE but, after you have all this information, prioritise the list – which pages are a must do NOW, which need doing in the next batch and which can be left until last?

A content audit is not about just creating a whole heap of work; it is about looking at what you have got and what can be updated/changed/modified (and even deleted if it’s no longer relevant) and setting some goals for action.

2015 could be the year you are part of that 8% of people who do meet their New Year resolutions… just make your goals obtainable.

How to counteract negative online reviews of your business

5th January 2015 by Alan Leave a Comment

Online reviews, according to a variety of sources, are a must-have for any business. With Google predicting that these online social signals becoming even more important in 2015 for creating a sense of trust and authority in the eyes of potential consumers, it could open the flood gates for companies to court as many reviews as possible.

But, it is a double-edged sword. Just like asking the kids what they think of your baking is a dangerous and loaded question, if you don’t really want to hear the answer, why ask the question?

And so, with online reviews there is a great side – the bit that propels your website from the dinginess of the lesser pages on Google to the upper echelons of pages of the top 10 – but there is also another darker, sinister side.

It is something we need to talk about. And so, as we invite comments and responses, you need to be ready for the negative online reviews.

Negativity. Trolls. Ridiculous. Damaging.

Right, before we start we need to grasp this nettle. We have all seen it. We look on comments for various news reports etc., and we see senseless comments from people, who want to deliberately inflame the situation. They make negative, crass and unnecessary comments that are hurtful and damaging.

Not everyone is nice out there, in ‘real-life’ on the streets and in ‘real time’ on the Internet. If you are going to actively ask for comments and feedback, you must be ready for the negativity.

But heading in to all-out war to win a small battle will not do you, your business or your brand any favours. It can be the opposite and you can spend the rest of your life drinking a chalk-based stomach settler before you eat due to the ulcer that these negative online reviews have left you with.

Something to be embraced

However, it can all seem a little bit off putting and, rather than taking a leap in to the unknown and damaging your business for ever, take a step back. It all seems a little dramatic and, in all honesty backing off from online reviews could damage your business in the long run. Google is telling us that these online reviews will be important but it leaves one burning question:

How do you deal with negative online reviews?

This is a two part answer: knowing when to respond and how to respond

When to respond

Right, let’s be honest. We have already alluded to this; not all negative reviews are equal. The trolls and the not-very-nice-people will leave nasty reviews for the hell of it. And the thing is, you have to remember and trust in the intelligence of your customers.

They know when someone is being deliberately obtuse, they may even laugh at such stupidity and you online reputation remains intact and unscathed.

But there are occasions when you do need to respond to negative comments, such as:

When you have genuinely made a mistake – life happens. And sometimes, it goes wrong. From a dodgy haircut to a broken product, systems and the like breakdown and a customer can genuinely be in receipt of a rubbish service or product. Even though a customer may leave a negative review, they will understand… but only if you really do acknowledge that you have dropped a clanger. Genuinely apologise and put it right, to the satisfaction of the customer.
They are not sticking to the facts – we saw this recently in which somebody left a negative review about not being able to access the money off online voucher but, it seems that the company they were having a rant at was not the right one. And so, if this happens to you then you need to respectfully point out they have made a mistake/got you confused with another company. If the facts are wrong, you need to correct them.
When the bad review starts to pick up speed – and by this we mean when other people jump on the bandwagon and start to say such things as ‘yes that happened to me too’. Absolutely, and without doubt, you need to deal with this at the source; find the original negative reviewer and deal with their complaint… or close it down if it is not right.
When someone is just plain angry – not everyone wakes up with a spring in their step, ready for the day ahead and there are people out there who moan and complain most, if not all of the time. Engaging in this circumstance will mean only one thing… it’ll go on and on. Therefore, you will need to measure carefully if you want to engage with this person or not. You may find the review irritating but, providing it doesn’t gather support or pace (see above), then this may be one instance where you leave it alone…
When people join in, defending you! – on one hand, this is great but you cannot have people leaping in before you, determining whether someone’s negative review deserves a response or not. Hence, if a review starts to develop support, you also need to make sure you leap in, shut it down as you do not want a customer coming under fire, if their complaint is genuine.

How to respond

This is the diplomatic part and not one all of us are blessed with the skills of diplomacy, therefore if you are not too sure this is your thing, then find someone who is! Or, if push comes to shove and that person is you, read on and develop a strategy for responding to negative online reviews.

Honesty – you know that hands up pose that says, ‘yup, we made a mistake’? You need to do that now and admit that your failed to meet their expectations, provide what they were looking for etc. and that you realise this. But, don’t go for the blame game and don’t act the victim. Something when wrong and you are sorry…
Listen – the negative comments are remarks are not about you, but how your customer feels; this can be anything from feeling let-down to disappointment. Listen to what they are really saying; is the product or service really the problem, or is there something else niggling at them? If they take the time to post a negative, then their gripe must feel quite real to them. Hence, show them you have heard what they are saying…
Calmness – remaining calm is essential. If you cannot remain in a calm state, then get off the Internet! Losing control, shouting and looking generally hysterical and over dramatic makes you and your brand, look like numpties. Calm. Calm. Calm. Professional. Calm.
Human – any response needs to sound and feel like it comes from a real person. If it looks too automated, robotic a response you could simply be soaking a smouldering ember with petrol… stand back!
Thank them – and tell them how this debacle/cock-up/disappointing episode will change the company or brand for the better in the future but do this without sounding patronising or gushing. Genuinely, it may be that the negative review has highlighted a real issue in a process and, without this complaint, you would not have seen it as clearly as you have done…

In a nutshell

Online reviews – all of them, negative and positive – should be helpful to your company and so you need to be active in maintaining and responding to them. Customers won’t just leave reviews on your website or email them to you personally, some will use third party websites (we all know the horror stories around Trip Advisor).

You will need to seek out some of these views and don’t just save this for a rainy afternoon every now and then. Make searching review sites – simply check out your company online can be enough – and decide which ones you are going to respond to, and which ones you won’t bother with.